Roaring Thunder
by crysalis
Summary: Ranma 1/2: The neko-ken scroll had a location not a method. Rough Draft Rewrite in progress .


PAuthor: Shard   
(shardofpower@yahoo.com) My other chapters and stories can be found at:   
Fanfiction.net, Author profile: crysalis forums.delphiforums.com/ranma_fanfics   
/P  
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PRanma one half and all elements are not   
mine because if they were you would be paying to read this. Chapter 1   
  
  
  
  
  
  
pThe Tendo household was in an uproar. Soun Tendo had just anounced to his three daughters, Kasumi, Nabiki, and Akane Tendo, that he and his old friend Genma had arranged them an engagement between one of them and Genma's son Ranma Saotome. We shall peek in just after he 'set them up the bomb' so to speak.  
  
p"Fiance!!!" the three Tendo girls yelled in unison.  
  
p"Yes," Soun Tendo replied, "We arranged it while we were training under The Master. The two schools of Anything-goes martial arts shall be united with the marriage of our offspring."  
  
pA loud noise interupted him at and Nabiki's eyes widened. "Maybe its Ranma!" she exclaimed running towards the the front door. Soun ran after her while Akane and Kasumi made their way forward at a more sedate pace. The first out of resentment and the second out of the wish to not seem over eager to meet her possible future husband. However they stopped when Nabiki and Soun ran back into the room and Nabiki yelled, "Its a Panda!!" Sure enough a Panda followed them into the room looking rather menacing and cross. It threw the struggling bundle in its paws on the ground and glared at it. The Tendos followed its gaze to a small cloth sack that was laying on the floor. Something inside it was obviouslly alive and attempting to escape. Soon the stings holding the bag closed loosened and a cat flowed out of the small opening like only a cat can. It's fur was black except for its back which was grey and an orange patch that sat a few inches from the base of its tail. It flicked its tail around indignantlly, hissed at the panda, and began to straighten out its fur.   
  
P"Oh my!" Kasumi stated looking only slightly less shocked at these events than the rest of her family. "What a lovely pussycat!"  
  
pThe cat jumped at her voice like it had been shocked. It looked up at the gaping Tendos just seeming to notice them. It then glanced at the panda and let its gaze wander back to the door still hanging open letting in the rain scented air and followed the trail of muddy paw prints back to the panda who was still glaring at it. The panda grumbled and the cat gave a low growl before turning its attention back to the Tendos. It cocked its head to one side and contrived to look sheepish, "Umm.. Hi I'm Ranma Saotome..." the Ranma formerly known as cat said, "Sorry about all this."  
  
p"Ranma is a..." Akane began.  
  
p"Talking cat." Nabiki continued, she looked over at her father and asked in a rather sarcastic tone. "Your 'Old Friend' wouldn't be into bestiality by any chance would he?"  
  
pThe panda stared at her looking highly shocked, and began waving signs that read "NO ITS NOTHING LIKE THAT!!!" and "I WOULD NEVER!!!"  
  
pSoun stroked his chin and appeared to think deeply not having seen the signs. "Well he always was a little odd. I guess its posi.." He was interupted at this point by the the panda, who had realized that no one was reading the signs, hit him over the head with one.  
  
hr  
  
pBy the time Soun woke up things were much quieter. Ranma and the panda, who had identified himself as Genma and stated clearly and repeatedly the he was not into beastiality, but refused to clarify further until Soun woke up, were both passing the time in their own way. Genma had gotten into the cubord and procured a bottle of sake, while Ranma, having accepted a bowl of milk from Kasumi, had watched Akane practice in the dojo for a short time and went to find a warm cushion to curl up on for a nap.   
  
pNabiki was lying on the couch watching Ranma out of the corner of her eye. She currently going over the various posiblities that this presented her with. The things that a talking cat could accomplish were quite fascinating. Its hearing alone was an asset in a world where selling gossip was quite profitable, and that wasn't even going into the places it could get into and wander around freely in. She grinned.  
She could probaly buy it off with cans of tuna or something.   
  
pKasumi was replacing the wet rag on her father's forehead smiling as she did so. She had always like cats. When she was younger she remembered feeding the strays around the neighborhood with her mother. A few of them had followed her home and she could remember crawling around up under the floorboards chasing after them. She had been upset when she had to start shooing them away because Akane was born and her mother had gotten ill. She sighed briefly at the memory, and then looked down. Soun was beginning to stir. "Daddy is waking up." She called out and the Tendos gathered around. Ranma blinked, yawned, and looked over his shoulder at her, and Genma lumbered into the room, picked up Soun, and left after handing her a sign reading. "Let me speak with him alone."   
  
pRanma got up and stretched, appearing to be lifted up by the orange spot on his back, he wandered over and looked up at the girls who had gathered around the door attempting to hear what was being said in the next room. "Pops didn't want me to change until he explained things." he said, "But he should be done soon. Could someone point me to the bathroom please?"  
  
pKasumi smiled at him and gestured to a hallway. "Third door on your left."  
  
p"Ah thanks!" Ranma padded out of the room and went to the indicated door, but blinked as he looked up at it. "Doorknob." he said to himself, before looking around. He spotted a chair sitting just a few feet to the side of the door and jumped up on it. He then crouched and launched himself towards the doorknob and managed to get both paws around it, his weight caused the knob to turn and as he fell down the door swung inwards. He sauntered into the the changing room and looked appreciativelly at the sliding door which was about an inch from being closed. He poked a paw into the gap and pulled the door another inch before squeezing his head through, the rest of him easilly followed. He swatted the handles on the large tub in the room and licked his lips as the water began to pour out. He looked down into the tub and found himself faced with a dilema. He wanted to change back. It had been a damp and cold two weeks in that sack. For some reason his Dad had thought that he might run away and had stuffed him in there somewhere in China. The old man had changed back and eaten, but had only given him a few table scraps reasoning that he was smaller and therefore needed very little to eat. The milk that that girl had given him was a godsend, not to mention that it seemed to taste better than milk had ever tasted before. The hot water that now filled the tub and steamed up the room looked great to him in a way, but he didn't want to get wet. Finally he reached a comprimise with himself and just stuck the tip of his tail in the water hoping that it would be enough to change him. It was. He chuckled as the tail seemed to melt and flow into him, almost instantly his body expanded and his fur nearly melted away changing to hair at some point along the way.  
Ranma stood up and reached for the ceiling and then made a few kicks and punches into mid-air enjoying being upright again. He then walked over and pulled the sliding door closed and began scrubbing himself with warm water and soap before dumping a bucket of cold water over his head.   
  
pThe thouroghly soaked and very iritated cat pushed the bucket off of himself and began licking himself dry. Ranma caught himself mid-lick and jumped in the tub. "Idiot!" He berated himself, now human once more. "I can't believe I used cold water." He leaned back in the tub relaxing and letting the kinks that had acumualted while he was in the bag dissolve. "Ah this feels good."  
As he relaxed a thought came to him. He had no clothes, his favorite gi had been lost when he had fallen into the pool. Not to mention his most treasured possesions, his only real possesions. "Stupid old man wouldn't even let me go back and get them." he muttered, "Probally glad to be rid of them. After all since I wouldn't let him sell them, they had no value in his eyes and were simply 'an obstacle to your mastery of the art'. He should be glad of any obstacle that can hold me back from kicking his fat ass." Ranma chuckled, "A true martial artist needs no weapon." he said sarcasticlly, "Well its not like I ever use them during fights. I just carry them around." he growled in frustration. "I don't have any clothes which means I'm going to have to change back to leave here. Also I have to get wet as well. I'm taking the first chance I can get to go back and find them." he decided, and began to climb out of the tub. Something shifted near his feet. He looked down into the water and the unmistakeable glimmer of metal met his eyes. He reached down hardly daring to breath as his hand closed around a golden glove and a small knife with a large red gem set in the handle and a hand guard that looked like it belonged on a larger weapon. He turned around and jumped out of the tub whooping for joy just as the sliding door was pulled open suddenlly. He ran out, past the incredibly shocked and equally naked girl in the doorway, to where he could hear his father's voice speaking to someone. "I found them Pops!!" he yelled, waving the knife in a way that made Genma's face pale. He looked over at the equally pale faces of the girls he had seen earlier and noticed that their focus was significantly lower than his face. He looked down and ran back out of the room attempting to cover himself with the hand that was holding the glove and barely avoided running into the girl carrying the large stone.   
  
p"You pervert!!!!!" Akane yelled throwing the stone lantern at him. Her eyes widened as he reflexively swung the blade in an attempt to block and cut the lantern neatly in half. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed running into the room he had just left and screamed "THERE IS A NAKED LUNATIC CHASING ME WITH A SWORRDD!!!!" as she ran through the room and opened up the closet full of things to deal with a naked lunatic carrying a sword. (A few instances of Kuno attempting to distract her with his 'manly charms' during a battle had led her to take certain precautions) She came out with a reinforced steel mallet and ran out only to be grabbed in mid-flight by her father.  
  
p"Calm down Akane. Everything is under control." Soun said.  
  
pNabiki sat blinking. So that was Ranma. A grin spread across her face. Well at least she wouldn't have to spend money on tuna. She could think of at least five other things off the top of her head that could be used to convince him to help her gather information, all of which would be worth trying even if he couldn't be convinced. What luck!!  
  
pKasumi sat smiling. What a nice kitty. she thought. A very nice kitty. Why he had nice written all over him. All over him. Her thoughts after that point were not quite coherent enough to record but the general gist of them could be assumed by the glazed expresion that had replaced her generally blank one.  
  
pLater on after Akane had been talked down from a burning rage to more of a searing simmer. Genma and Soun sat at the ends of the table while the Tendo girls sat on one side and Ranma sat on the other looking down at his lap. He was wearing a red shirt and black pants that his father had 'procured' for him somewhere. Kasumi and Nabiki were gazing at him there faces somewhat red with faint blushes, while Akane was glaring at him her face living up to her name. Explanations had been traded about the curses and what he had been doing in the bathroom, and a strained silence had fallen over the group.  
  
p"So, Ranma, Soun said putting a friendly arm around the boy's shoulders. These are my daughters Kasumi age 19, Nabiki age 17, and Akane age 16. Choose one and she will be your new fiancee!"  
  
pRanma froze. His face first was shocked, but soon became confused. Ranma continued to stare at his lap, but now his face looked strained. He blinked rapidly and looked around him. "My new fiancee..." he muttered. The gem on the knife began to glow slightly.  
"I have an old one?" words poured around in his mind and he began to lift the sword up. A voice that wasn't quite his began to say "Sword of Om-"   
  
p"He'll take Akane" Genma interjected.  
  
pRanma blicked. The fog that had crossed his mind for a moment had faded and he thought to himself. Why did I think I already had a fiancee for a second there? He looked up and what his father had just said sank into his mind erasing the vauge impression of a person with a square head from it. "WHAT!" He yelled joining in the fourfold glare directed at the end of the table at which his father sat.  
  
p"They are the same age and are both the heirs of their schools. Its only logical that they should be the ones to unite the schools. Isn't that right Tendo?" Genma asked looking down the table to his friend.  
  
p"Of course Saotome! Brilliant! Akane is the obvious choice!" Soun exclaimed. "So its decided! Ranma will marry Akane!"   
  
pThe glare of four pairs of eyes met his gaze.  
  
p"I'm not marrying that pervert!" Akane screamed, "He peeked on me in the bathroom!"  
  
pKasumi's eyes sank. Was he already focused on Akane?  
  
pNabiki caught Kasumi's change in expression even though it hadn't lasted long. So, she thought to herself, Big sister is interested. If I try I could easily just trample her. She would move aside if she thought either of us had an interest in him, but where would the fun in that be? "Oh, Akane, do you mean that he peeked at you in the few seconds between you walked in and he ran out yelling." Nabiki grinned, get the girl's temper jumping a little. "I always knew you had an effect on the guys."  
  
p"What do you mean by that?" Akane growled.  
  
p"Well one look at you and boys run screaming. The direction must be chose out of panic. Isn't that right Ranma?"  
  
pRanma wasn't paying attention. He was focused on the sword. There was something about it that seemed different. Like how had it cut that rock when it felt so dull when he touched it. A question had been asked him so without looking up he answered "Yeah I guess."  
  
pAkane was livid. She reached down and picked up the heavy oak table and slammed it down on his head. Or would have if his left hand which was wearing the metal glove hadn't stopped it in mid swing. The table cracked as the two conflicting forces hit it at different areas and the top portion of it fell back down on its wielder.  
  
pKasumi's face jumped slightly. He wasn't really interested in Akane he didn't even look up when the table fell back on her. She helped her father pull the bit of table away and dragged Akane away humming as she went.  
  
pNabiki grinned. This would be a challenge. She would keep Kasumi in the running for as long as possible, hopefully, she might lose a little of her self-sacrificing nature and fight for him. Then when Nabiki finally won maybe she would be able to actually go after Tofu or someone instead on waiting for someone else to make the first move, but there was a chance that Kasumi could get him if she was helped too much. It would be a delicate balance.  
  
p Cats can do this. I had one that used to unlock and open the side door when he really had to get out. I'm not kidding.  
brOnly Humans and horses have hair. Strange but   
true./p 


End file.
